Ever visited somewhere for the day and been really disappointed?

[Summerhouse2013]

We travelled to Yeovil in Somerset yesterday for the day, wow, we were so disappointed.

It was like a ghost town. Most of the shops were shut, only a handful were open. And towards the bottom area of the town most of the shops were completely closed down.

I'd always got the impression there was a lot more to Yeovil.

We left after an hour as there was nothing to do.

Edinburgh during the Easter holidays. It was so run down. Princes St dirty and so many empty shops and buildings. National Gallery grubby and parts of it closed off, no notices or lifts. Lots of litter. Lots of grand but empty Georgian, municipal type buildings with filthy curtains or boarded doors/windows. Flower beds in Princes St gardens not planted. Roadworks all over. We stuck to the Old Town but it was all quite sad really. It's such a beautiful city but not at its best at the minute.

Yeovil is famously a shithole. Did you think it would be nice because of the yoghurt?

We went to bath earlier this month, loved the Roman Baths but it was very run down in some parts and I was very underwhelmed, wished I had gone to Canterbury which was also on our list for a weekend!

Whitby is a town of two sides - the cheap side of the harbour with the cheap shops, chip shops and the Goth shops and the other side ( The Abbey side) that I love - the little streets, the Abbey, the quirky shops and great little places to stay.

It's not known locally as Yeo-vile without good reason.........

Dorchester used to be lovely, lots of independent shops as well as the high street chains. A shadow of its formal self these days, Sherborne isn't bad though.

We had a fab day there! Was also raining when we arrived, but was hardly anyone there, the beach was lovely and we enjoyed a walk around the cliffs!

@FrostyFifi lol very good.

Gloucester so boring and unfriendly.

Dublin really just too expensive for what it is, don’t know what you would do there if you don’t drink.

Think Whitby is a bit marmite, I have never seen the attraction.

Nashville.

Scarborough. What a dump.
Walk down the south side in ten minutes and you're done. Full of tat and seagull shit, not to mention the boarded up and run down, in parts, falling down shops and buildings.
Go to the north side and there's a park, just like any other park but with a lake in it. Fine if you like trundling round parks.
Even a hotel committed suicide by throwing itself off a cliff, it's that bad.

@Sisisimone @TheaBrandt

i know, it’s hard to take the thread seriously when people are writing off the whole of Paris and claiming places like Chester aren’t at all historic 😂

Cromer. Think it had been really hyped up by my friends and I was so looking forward to visiting but found it very meh.

The Needles Isle of Wight

Agree with Eden Project

San Francisco. After the beauty of Mammoth and Yosemite it was hard to take. My teens didn’t like it either. Luckily we weren’t there for long before heading to Monterey and Highway 1. I was dreading LA for similar reasons but apart from the tackiness of Hollywood Boulevard we really enjoyed it.

I love places mentioned a lot on here - Paris, Amsterdam, Bath. Been to Paris three times and would love to go back.

And because people appear to be going to places like Nashville, Las Vegas and San Francisco for day trips (or they’re not reading the thread title!)

I also liked Scarborough. Much more than I expected. I didn't get to see the very touristy beach part though, not deliberately but we were staying in another part and just never got there. There was a lovely little square with independent shops, book stores and cafes. I especially liked that part but I can't remember the name of that section now.

Was genuinely bemused and marvelling at all the people banging on about Hebden Bridge when it's a just a shithole station with nothing there...

Then I realised the place I'm thinking of is Hawarden Bridge on the Wrexham line...

I didn't rate the Pyramids much either, we'd seen other more amazing things in Egypt and the Middle East generally. We were taken to see a boat in a museum, since moved to Cairo, and some man trailed around with me all the time even though I ignored him and never addressed a word to him. At the end he demanded a guide fee and became very beligerant when I ignored him. Eventually our tour guide intervened and I complained that not only had he not done any guiding, he had spoiled the experience.

That’s exactly how I imagined them! Fascinated by this!

When we went to Port Meirion during a stay in North Wales they were astounded that I had no idea what The Prisoner was, this was in the 80s, apparently it was a TV programme filmed there.

Yes to San Francisco..it was cold (middle of August) and windy and lots of homelessness.

Cromer also cold and windswept and not lovely.

Sad that a couple of you didn't like San Francisco.

To be fair it seems that the locals aren't very fond of it at the moment either. It's been in the news a lot lately because of the murder of Bob Lee and because so many of the locals are sick and tired of the crime there.

What made you think Yeovil would be nice? It’s known for being a deprived area, lots of poverty

Covid has destroyed the centres of many US cities - SF, NY to name two. People worked from home and the homeless moved in. Add this to the terrible drug issues in these communities.

I recall standing looking at the Sphinx then turning 180 degrees and seeing a Burger King and other food outlets, so disappointing.

The problem with visiting many historic towns is we are familiar with the iconic views but in reality apart from those views the rest of the town or city is no different than any other town or city where people live and work.

Stayed in Norfolk on a short break, for some reason we went to Great Yarmouth "for the day" think we left after an hour.

I think you didn't quite grasp the Solar Boat. It's incredible (no longer at the Giza site where it had a lovely building, actually - it's moved to the new Grand Museum) & was very much part of the Giza plateau.

However, your tour guide was clearly awful. Firstly, they should have explained what you were there to see, & secondly, they should have yeeted the tagalong.

That's largely why you'd pay a guide/join a group tour in the first place.